Gangs of New York
written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, & Kenneth Lonergan
Bill the Butcher: Do you know what's kept me alive all these years? Monk does. Fear. The spectacle of fearsome acts. Someone steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me, I cut off his head, and stick it on a pike. Hold it high in the streets so all can see. That's what preserves the order of things. That one tonight. Who was he? A nobody. A coward. What a fitting end that would have been. I killed the last honorable man fifteen years ago. You've seen his portrait. Downstairs. (pause) Answer me when I'm talkin' to you.
Amsterdam: I've seen it.
Bill the Butcher: (smiling) Oh, you go a murderous rage in you and I like it. It's life boilin' up in you. It's good. (pause) The Priest and me lived by the same principles. It was only faith that divided us. (indicating his facial scar) He give me this you know. It was the finest beating I ever took. My face was pulp. My guts was pierced. My ribs was swimmin'. But when he come to kill me, I couldn't look him in the eye. He spared me, because he wanted me to live in shame. This was a great man. So I cut out the eye that looked away, and sent it to him, wrapped in blue paper. I would have cut them both out if I could have fought him blind. Then I rose back up with full heart and buried him in his own blood.
Amsterdam: Well done.
Bill the Butcher: He was the only man I ever killed who was worth remembering. (pause) I never had a son.(pause) Civilization is crumbling. (pause, Bill gets up from his chair, kisses his hand and places it on Amsterdam's forehead) God bless you.
Kudos and much thanks go to Neil for this monologue, it is very much appreciated.